Latest / Adventure Books Library / 29 - The Adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi
Transcript
- 0:00Chapter twenty nine, Pinocchio returns to the fairy's house, and she promises him
- 0:05that on the morrow he will cease to be a marionette and become a boy.
- 0:10A wonderful party of coffee and milk to celebrate the great event. Mindful
- 0:16of what the fisherman had said, Pinocchio knew that all hope of being saved
- 0:21had gone. He closed his eyes and waited for the final moment. Suddenly,
- 0:26a large dog, attracted by the odor of boiling oil, came running
- 0:30into the cave. Get out, cried the fisherman, threateningly, and still
- 0:35holding on to the marionette, who was all covered with flour. But the
- 0:39poor dog was very hungry and whining and wagging his tail. He tried to
- 0:44say, give me a bite of the fish. I'll go in peace.
- 0:47Get out, I say, repeated the fisherman, and he drew back his
- 0:51foot to give the dog a kick. Then the dog, who being really
- 0:54hungry, would take no refusal, turned in a rage toward the fisherman and
- 0:59bared his terrible things. At that moment, a pitiful little voice was heard
- 1:03saying, save me, Alidoro. If you don't, I'll fry the dog
- 1:07immediately recognized Pinocchio's voice. Great was his surprise to find that the voice came
- 1:14from the little flower covered bundle that the fisherman held in his hand. Then
- 1:19what did he do? With one great leap? He grasped that bundle in
- 1:23his mouth, and, holding it lightly between his teeth, ran through the
- 1:26door and disappeared like a flash. The fisherman, angry at seeing his meal
- 1:32snatched from under his nose, ran after the dog, but a bad fit
- 1:36of coughing made him stop and turn back. Meanwhile, Alidoro, as soon
- 1:41as he had found the road which led to the village, stopped and dropped
- 1:45Pinocchio softly to the ground. How much I do thank you, said the
- 1:49marionette. It's not necessary, answered the dog. You save me once,
- 1:53and what is given is always returned. We are in this world to help
- 1:57one another. But how did you get in that cave? I was lying
- 2:02here on the sand, more dead than alive, when an appetizing odor of
- 2:07frightfish came to me. That odor tickled my hunger, and I followed it.
- 2:12Oh, if I had come a moment later, don't speak about it,
- 2:15wailed Pinocchio, still trembling with fright don't say a word. If you
- 2:21had come a moment later, I would be fried, eaten, and digested
- 2:23by this time er I shiver at the mere thought of it. Alidoro laughingly
- 2:30held out his paw to the marionette, who shook it heartily, feeling that
- 2:32now he and the dog were good friends. Then they bid each other good
- 2:37bye, and the dog went home. Pinocchio, left alone, walked toward
- 2:40a little hut near by, where an old man sat at the door,
- 2:45sunning himself, and asked, tell me, good man, have you heard
- 2:47anything of a poor boy with a wounded head whose name was Eugene. The
- 2:52boy was brought to this hut, and now now he's dead, Pinocchio interrupted
- 2:57sorrowfully. No, he is now alive, and he has already returned home.
- 3:01Really really, cried the marionette, jumping around with joy. And the
- 3:05wound was not serious, but it might have been even Martle answered the old
- 3:10man. Far heavy book was thrown at his head, and who threw it?
- 3:15A schoolmate of his, a certain Pinocchio. And who is this,
- 3:19Pinocchio asked the marionette, feigning ignorance. They say he is a mischief maker,
- 3:23a tramp, a street urchin calumnies, all calumnies. Do you know
- 3:29this Pinocchio by sight, answered the marionette. And what do you think of
- 3:32him? Answered the old man. I think he is a very good boy,
- 3:37fond of study, obedient, kind to his father and to his whole
- 3:40family. As he was telling all these enormous lies about himself, Pinocchio touched
- 3:46his nose and found it twice as long as it should be. Scared out
- 3:50of his wits, he cried out, don't listen to me, good man.
- 3:53All the wonderful things I have said are not true at all. I
- 3:55know Pinocchio well, and he is indeed a very wicked fellow, zy and
- 4:00disobedient, who, instead of going to school, runs away with his playmates
- 4:03to have a good time. At this speech, his nose returned to its
- 4:08natural size. Why are you so pale, asked the old man. Suddenly,
- 4:13let me tell you, without knowing it, I've rubbed myself against a
- 4:16newly painted wall. He lied, ashamed to say that he had been made
- 4:20ready for the frying pan. What have you done with your coat and your
- 4:24hat and your breeches? I met thieves and they robbed me. Tell me,
- 4:28my good man, have you not perhaps a little suit to give me
- 4:31so that I may go home, my boy. As for clothes, I
- 4:34have only a bag in which I keep hops. If you want it,
- 4:39take it there it is. Pinocchio did not wait for him to repeat his
- 4:43words. He took the bag, which happened to be empty, and after
- 4:46cutting a big hole at the top and two at the sides, he slipped
- 4:49into it as if it were a shirt. Lightly clad as he was,
- 4:54he started out toward the village. Along the way, he felt very uneasy.
- 4:59In fact, he was so unhappy that he went along, taking two
- 5:01steps forward and one back. And as he went he said to himself,
- 5:06how shall I ever face my good little fairy? What will she say when
- 5:10she sees me? Will she forgive this last trick of mine? I am
- 5:14sure she won't. Oh no, she won't, and I deserve it,
- 5:16as usual, for I am a rascal, fine on promises which I never
- 5:20keep. He came to the village late at night. It was so dark
- 5:26he could see nothing, and it was raining pitchforks. Pinocchio went straight to
- 5:30the fairy's house, firmly resolved to knock at the door. When he found
- 5:33himself there, he lost courage and ran back a few steps. A second
- 5:39time, he came to the door, and again he ran back. The
- 5:42third time, he repeated his performance the fourth time, before he had time
- 5:46to lose his courage. He grasped the knocker and made a faint sound with
- 5:49it. He waited, and waited and waited. Finally, after a full
- 5:57half hour, a top floor window the house had four stories opened and Pinocchio
- 6:02saw a large snail look out. A tiny light glowed on top of her
- 6:06head. Who knocks at this late hour? She called? Is the fairy
- 6:12home? Asked the marionette. The fairy is asleep and does not wish to
- 6:16be disturbed. Who are you it is? I? Who's I Pinocchio?
- 6:24Who is Pinocchio? The marionette, the one who lives in the fairy's house?
- 6:29Oh, I understand, said the snail. Wait for me there.
- 6:33I will come down to open the door for you. Hurry, I beg
- 6:38of you, for I am dying of cold, my boy, I am
- 6:42a snail, and snails are never in a hurry. An hour passed,
- 6:49two hours the door was still closed. Pinocchio, who was trembling with fear
- 6:55and shivering from the cold rain, on his back knocked a second time,
- 6:59this time louder than before. At that second knock, a window on the
- 7:03third floor opened, and the same snail looked out. Dear little snail,
- 7:08cried Pinocchio from the street. I have been waiting two hours for you,
- 7:12and two hours on a dreadful night like this are as long as two years.
- 7:15Hurry, please, my boy, answered the snail in a calm,
- 7:21peaceful voice. My dear boy, I am a snail, and snails are
- 7:27never in a hurry. And the window closed. A few minutes later,
- 7:31midnight struck, then one o'clock, two o'clock, and the door still remained
- 7:39closed. Then Pinocchio, losing all patience, grabbed the knocker with both hands,
- 7:44fully determined to wake the whole house in the street with it. As
- 7:47soon as he touched the knocker, however, it became an eel and wiggled
- 7:50away into the darkness. Really, cried Pinocchio, blind with rage. If
- 7:56the knocker is gone, I can still use my feet. He stepped back
- 8:00and gave the door a most solemn kick. He kicked so hard that his
- 8:05foot went straight through the door, and his leg followed almost to the knee.
- 8:09No matter how he pulled and tugged, he could not pull it out.
- 8:13There he stayed as if nailed to the door. Poor Pinocchio. The
- 8:18rest of the night he had to spend with one foot through the door and
- 8:20the other one in the air. As dawn was breaking, the door finally
- 8:26opened. That brave little animal, the snail had taken exactly nine hours to
- 8:31go from the fourth floor to the street. How she must have raced.
- 8:35What are you doing with your foot through the door, she asked the marionette,
- 8:39laughing it was a misfortune. Won't you try, pretty little snail,
- 8:45to free me from this terrible torture. My boy, we need a carpenter
- 8:50here, and I have never been one. Ask the fairy to help me.
- 8:54The fairy is asleep and does not want to be disturbed. But what
- 8:58do you want me to do nailed to the door like this? Enjoy yourself
- 9:03counting the ants which are passing by. Bring me something to eat at least,
- 9:07for I am faint with hunger. Immediately, in fact, after three
- 9:13and a half hours, Pinocchio saw her return with the silver tray on her
- 9:16head. On the tray there were bread, roast, chicken, fruit.
- 9:22Here is the breakfast, the fairy sends to you, said the snail.
- 9:26At the sight of all these good things, the marionette felt much better.
- 9:31What was his disgust? However, when, on tasting the food he found
- 9:33the bread to be made of chalk, the chicken of cardboard, and the
- 9:39brilliant fruit of colored alabaster, he wanted to cry. He wanted to give
- 9:43himself up to despair. He wanted to throw away the tray and all that
- 9:46was on it. Instead, either from pain or weakness, he fell to
- 9:50the floor in a dead faint. When he regained his senses, he found
- 9:56himself stretched out on a sofa, and the fairy was seated near him.
- 10:01This time I forgive you, said the fairy to him, but be careful
- 10:05not to get into mischief again. Pinocchio promised to study and to behave himself,
- 10:11and he kept his word for the remainder of the year. At the
- 10:15end of it he passed first in all his examinations, and his report was
- 10:18so good that the fairy said to him, Happily, tomorrow your wish will
- 10:24come true. And what is that Tomorrow you will cease to be a marionette
- 10:30and will become a real boy. Pinocchio was beside himself with joy. All
- 10:35his friends and schoolmates must be invited to celebrate the great event. The fairy
- 10:39promised to prepare two hundred cups of coffee and milk, and four hundred slices
- 10:43of toast, buttered on both sides. The day promised to be a very
- 10:48gay and happy one. But unluckily, in a marionette's life there's always a
- 10:54butt which is apt to spoil everything. And of chapter twenty nine,